romney campaign, and starts off our coverage in cuyahoga falls, ohio. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. we're seeing real evidence that this race is tightening, not just nationally, but in crucial battlegrounds like here in ohio. with both candidates descending on the buckeye state, the o in ohio could easily stand for offense. a poll released late this afternoon shows president obama's lead has shrunk to just four points. touching down on akron on the last day ohioans will vote. mitt romney will campaign here four of the last five days. the president just wrapped up his 17th rally here, more than any other state. >> do not delay, go vote today. what do you think? all right, buckeyes, we need you. >> reporter: why all the attention on ohio? no republican has won the white house without it. romney advisers insist the race has fundamentally changed here since last week. just weeks ago, the campaign briefly considered its path forward without ohio. >> we feel it's going to be close again until the end, but we feel we have an ent